Master and Maid
by Kodaiyu
Summary: In a plight of desperation, Sakura throws herself into work, unaware what surprises await her. It doesn't dawn on her, that she works for the Uchiha house, and is the servant of Sasuke Uchiha. SasuSaku
1. Chapter 1

**Master and Maid**

By Kodaiyu

**Chapter One: ****Beginning of the End**

A pair of nervous jade green eyes darted around the library for any unwanted busy bodies, before settling back on the computer monitor. Thin fingers pushed and tapped buttons on the mouse and keyboard, occasionally hitting the 'Enter' key.

Her heart was pumping wildly, like the beating of _taiko_ drums, as she brushed aside a lock of pink hair. If that, her peculiar hair colour wasn't enough to ensure her unpopularity; surely, this would, if anybody found out.

Of course, the act of looking for a part time job is a perfectly normal business for a seventeen year old to go about doing. But the world she lived in was not normal at all.

Sakura Haruno was a student at Konoha High School.

* * *

Konoha High School is perhaps one of the most prestigious schools in the country. Wealthy tycoons sent sons and daughters to this school. And they in turn, send their sons and daughters to this school. Certainly, this systematic cycle of enrolment and admittance meant only the _most_ wealthy and the _most_ powerful of families had places at the school, some even as soon as the children were born, had places reserved for them.

One could question how a mere commoner, like Sakura Haruno, could even dream of affording the school fees to attend a school like this.

The answer?

She couldn't. She relied on her brains; she received a scholarship to this magnificent school, filled with the to-be celebrities of the business world.

Luck, on the other hand had left her that morning. It seemed as if every part-time job vacancy wanted somebody who was over eighteen, had experience, or had a Bachelors Degree of so-and-so.

She had none of those.

She was ready to admit defeat, when she read the last advertisement:

_Looking for girls aged 16-24 to work as servants._

_Part time and Full time._

_Food and Board included._

_No prior experience required._

Beneath, was a "450 a week part time" and a telephone number and address.

* * *

Sakura ran her fingers through her hair nervously. A few last minute pulls and tugs to straighten her uniform and the constant shifting of her résumé in front of her was a sure sign that she was new to job interviews.

She nearly jumped out of her seat when the door clicked open loudly and a woman walked into the polished room. She was dressed like a common maid: a plain black skirt that was no higher than above her meaty knees, covering her enormous bosom was a black shirt whose short sleeves struggled to go around her ham-hock arms, a plain white apron with a slightly frilled edge and black pumps which looked very outdated. Her large figure and haughty distinction was more than enough to say that she was the Head Maid.

"Haruno Sakura…" she said, her voice raspy, chipped away by the scolding of other maids. Grey strands streaked her black hair, which was pulled into what seemed like a very tight bun. Sakura dared to let her eyes stray to the details of the woman's face. Deep lines creased into her plump face, covered by a thick layer of makeup. Large lips like slices of sushi tuna smeared with subtle red lipstick and eyes were lined with clumped mascara. She looked no younger than forty five.

She watched the woman's beady black eyes travel to above her own eyes. "Unusual hair colour you have." She pointed out needlessly. She muttered something, and Sakura was quite sure she had said, "Kids these days…"

"It's my natural hair colour." She blurted out, stupidly. Perhaps she wanted the woman to know that she wasn't one of _those kids_, or maybe she didn't want to be mistaken. Either way, the old woman didn't look very happy. She wasn't a woman to cross, and Sakura was already on her bad side.

"Really?" she croaked. Sarcasm was dripping from her mouth. "You'll have to do something about it before you start next week."

"Wha- I'm hired?" She never thought it'd be that easy.

"Come by next week with your things."

* * *

The evening air was cool. As Sakura walked home, down the streets of the middle class district, she wondered why on earth she wanted a scholarship to go to that wretched school. Thinking back to when she was 14, she probably wanted that scholarship because by attending a school with the prestige of Konoha High School, university would be in arms reach.

As Sakura reached the black lamp post at the end of the block, she gripped the cloth bag containing her _bento_ and took a deep breath. She was about to enter the upper-class district. She pulled over her head the hood of her long woolly coat. The coat, thankfully, covered her uniform properly; she didn't want classmates to see her.

Everyday, as she walked through the upper class district, she kept her gazed glued firmly to the pavement, counting the concrete slabs, till she reached the three hundredth and eighty seventh slab.

On the three hundredth and eighty seventh slab, was the automatic sliding glass doors to the hospital. Once she had passed through them, she felt safe. The nurses and doctors and even some long-term patients greeted her with pleasant smiles and hellos she would otherwise not receive anywhere else.

Opening the door to room 3-B, she saw a pink haired woman sitting in one of the beds, the thin blankets over her thighs, knitting.

"_Kaa-san_!"

* * *

"Sakura-chan, I've told you before, you don't have to visit me everyday to eat with me. I don't get lonely you know. There are plenty of other ladies to eat with."

"It's nice to eat with family, isn't it?" she said, before picking up an _onigiri_.

For her, eating with her mother and the hospital itself felt like a sanctuary. Although it was both a place of healing and death, she didn't mind the blanched walls and smell of disinfectant that wafted through the hospital. Here, she wasn't judged on her common class status. And for an hour and a half each day, she'd feel at peace, as if she could take off the heavy bag she lugged about each day, filled with the insults, expectations and angry glares the students throw at her.

"Kaa-san."

"Hmm? What is it?"

She didn't like this 'breaking the news' business. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she continued.

"I might not be able to visit everyday from next week."

Her mother looked surprised, but not disappointed.

"I have a part time job, every day and on weekends as well." Sakura avoided her mother's gaze, in case it was disapproving.

"That's great, Sakura-chan!" The sudden praise made Sakura look up, and she saw her mother's facial expression melt into one of strict concern. "Make sure you can still do your homework, okay?"

* * *

Before long, it was time to put on that heavy bag again, and say goodbye. Leaving her Sanctuary again.

As soon as she got out, she counted the concrete slabs again.

Luck, at this point, decided it would be funny, and abandoned her, leaving Fate to toy with her. Because on the one hundredth and sixty ninth slab, she had run into what she thought, would end her existence. Because she was so focused on counting the pavement, she didn't realise anyone would be so stupid, as to try and walk through her. So as the top of her head bumped into something equally soft as it were hard, she had to look up, and let her hood fall.

Jade eyes had set onto obsidian ones. And she knew. It was the beginning of her end.

* * *

_How was it for my first attempt at fan-fiction? Please give lots of feedback! _

_Some Japanese translations/definitions:_

_Taiko:__ Is a large Japanese drum_

_Bento:__ A Japanese style lunch box, filled with lots of different things like rice, vegetables, meat, fish, tofu etc._

_Kaa-san:__ Mother or Mum or Mom or Mama or …._

_-san is usually a prefix on somebody's name to add formality. The reason why Sakura is called "Sakura-chan" is because her Mother is someone close to her, and it's a cute way of saying someone's name. Usually seniors with use –chan._

_Onigiri:__ Japanese rice ball covered in seaweed. Usually filled with last night's leftovers or a red plum (I'm told)._

_Also, before you bombard me with flames along the lines of: "OMG 450 a week is SOOO much!!", please think about the hours that Sakura has to work._

_Please wait for the next chapter!_


	2. Chapter 2

**Master and Maid**

By Kodaiyu

**Chapter Two: Playing with Fire**

Those obsidian eyes, famous for their constant death like stare, belonged to only one person. Uchiha Sasuke. It was only a split second later, Sakura realised that her hood was down, showing her pink hair, her coat only buttoned at the top, exposed her uniform.

She ran. She didn't care if she pushed past him violently and knocked him to the ground, she didn't care that she had just rammed her head against his chest and elbowed him in the shoulder as he fell, all she could think to do now was to run. And pray to the gods that they could convince him to forget the shock of pink hair.

The gods were too amused. They were going to be cruel.

* * *

He brushed himself off. She was surely going to pay for this. It was going to be easy finding her, he mused, there weren't many girls with pink hair and green eyes.

"Sasuke-_sama_! Are you alright?" the chauffeur hurried out, bowing clumsily while trying to keep his hat on his head.

"Aa." Came his blunt reply. Sasuke Uchiha wasn't interested in wasting his breath on stupid servants.

What really came into his mind was the girl. She had the Konoha uniform on, which narrowed his search slightly. Smirking to himself, he got back into the sleek black car, his chauffer bowing profusely before getting in himself to drive.

Sakura didn't stop sprinting until she was inside her apartment and in her bed.

* * *

_You have just head-butted _the_ Sasuke Uchiha in the chest. What on earth were you doing?_

**_CHYA! He was in my way!_**

Fear rose up her chest like heart burn. What was she going to do? He could very well have some brutes to come to her apartment in the middle of the night and have her killed, with the power he holds and the heir to the ever expanding Uchiha empire. On that thought, she went and put a chair underneath the door handle of her room, just in case he really did decide to send out brutes.

Sasuke Uchiha, was perhaps one of the most powerful, if not most powerful teenager in the country. He was famous for his cool attitude and popular because of his bad-boy looks.

She recalled looking in one of the glossy magazines and stumbling across his photo. Even just looking at his photo, her face grew red and hot.

Cradling her knees to her chest, she feared school the next day.

* * *

She dreaded the bleating ring of her cheap plastic alarm clock. Even in her sleep she couldn't find rest.

"_Get out of here!" _

_It was his voice, but it was sober. The sharp piercing slap rung through her ears._

"_I don't want you here! You bring disease to the house!" _

_She was watching the entire scene. Curse after curse yelled at the sobbing woman, laying crumpled on the floor, desperate tear filled eyes begging for forgiveness._

"_Please Shinzo! Don't leave me like this!"_

_She had never before seen her mother in this state. She stood frozen, scared of what might happen if she dared to move. She screamed inside, and before the next string of abuses fell upon her mother, she had run to her. _

"_Don't touch her, Sakura! You might become poisoned!" He yelled like an angry troll. It didn't stop her from throwing herself on her mother. _

"_Fine! Leave! Both of you! I never wanted a daughter like you anyway! You bring disgrace on the Haruno name!"_

With the dream burning in her mind, she stared, disdainfully at her school uniform and a cold wave of reality woke her up.

Everything that morning went by slowly. The act of putting on her uniform normally took no more than 10 minutes, but today, it felt as if her body was being weighed down, her heart made of lead.

* * *

As she entered through the school gate, she quickly looked around the yard, in case _he_ was there.

Classes that particular day, didn't speed past her like they normally would. Instead, it was as if the classes were turtles, and she was waiting desperately for them to finally amble out of her way.

When the bell rang for morning break in it's typical school bell ring (din-ding-ding-diiiiiiiiinnnnng, ding-ding-ding-diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnngg!), immediately a second year boy ran down the school corridors, screaming and yelling, "The exam results are up! The exam results are uuuppp!" like a madman.

The entire class rose together, save for Sakura, and poured out of the classroom, eager to see their own and their classmate's results.

_Of course! It been exactly a month since the mid year exams._

**_I'm gonna be number one this time! SHANNARO!_**

It was time for results to be publicly posted, so the entire world could see how well (or badly) you had done. The ones who had achieved the best scores, the top ten, had their name posted in a large size 24 font, printed on a sheet of gold paper (along with a string of their exam scores), in order of ranking. Similarly, the worst in the class had their names posted on a red sheet of paper, so their fellow peers could jeer and jostle them.

Every time the results were posted, Sakura's name would appear on the gold sheet. Usually number two or three, but never number one. Everyone knew, the number one place, was reserved for the genius, Uchiha Sasuke.

When she arrived in the courtyard, everyone (or the ones that could), was pointing at the gold paper. It was ritual the entire school would join in. For some peculiar reason, it was always _their_ year level's exam results that fascinated the entire school.

But something was strange this time. No one was leaving the results board, after their healthy doses of admiration and sighs.

As Sakura pushed and shoved, she noticed that she received strange stares. When she got to the front of the crowd, she realised why.

Next to the number 'one', was not 'Uchiha Sasuke', but 'Haruno Sakura' followed by a string of '100''s.

"No…" she mouthed. What had she done?

She was careful, in every exam in the past, not to get all the answers correct. She knew Uchiha Sasuke was a genius, but sometimes she felt she could surpass him if she did answer all the questions truthfully.

She hoped that maybe Ebisu-sensei, would come along any second and say that there had been a mistake. But he didn't come.

The rapid beating of her heart told her that something bad was about to happen.

The crowd had parted, making way for only one person. The person they all fawned over and worshipped. She didn't want to risk being caught, so she ran.

* * *

A frown and the narrowing of the eyes struck fear into everyone's hearts. Uchiha Sasuke didn't look very happy.

"Who was that? The one who ran off?" he asked, to no one in particular.

"Haruno Sakura!" they all chimed.

A smirk dawned on his handsome face. Some girls sighed dreamily.

_Found you._

* * *

Sakura, blinded by her fear, found herself sitting in the dark corner of the library.

_**Shannaro! I beat Uchiha Sasuke!**_

_Oh dear __Kami-sama__… stupid stupid stupid! How could you?_

And in the midst of all the scolding and cursing, she didn't know that someone was watching her.

* * *

The gods smiled. They were thoroughly entertained, but not enough.

_My, my, my, Sakura-chan… didn't your mama tell you?_

_Little girls like you, should never play with fire._

* * *

Leave a review! Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter!

_-Sama: A prefix usually for someone of a higher rank than you._

_Kami-sama: Japanese equivalent of God._

_Ja ne!_


	3. Chapter 3

**Master and Maid**

**Chapter Three: ****Close Call**

When the break was over, she felt like she had been chained to a boulder and thrown into a pond. She wanted to disappear, but she could see students laughing as they watched her claw the water in desperation, to try and undo the damage.

She walked into the class, dazed. Even her favourite subject, Biology, couldn't distract her from the glares from the other students. Their whispers were gradually getting louder and louder; starting from careless gossiping to deliberate put downs.

A slender arm captured everyone's attention, and the whispers slowly died down into nothing.

"_Sensei_?"

"Yes?"

"Can I please go to the bathroom?"

The teacher couldn't hide the surprise on her face. Haruno Sakura, of all the students, has never missed a class and has never requested to go to the bathroom.

"Oh! Yes, of course you may." The teacher said, a little jumpy.

All she could hear was the hollow echoes of tap-tap-tap as she walked down the corridors. Letting out a careful breath, she listened to her heart pounding in her ears. Each beat scared her more and more.

* * *

Sasuke leaned back on his chair; he didn't care about classes. He knew he was a genius, but he wasn't happy about that Haruko girl beating him. Or whatever her name was.

Speak of the devil, as he looked through the window and into the corridor, there she was, floating past the window like a ghost. Her figure was slumped slightly.

He stood up abruptly.

"Bathroom." He said in a low voice and walked out.

The teacher knew better than to challenge an Uchiha. He knew not to point out that the male toilets were in the opposite direction.

* * *

Although her spirits have been dampened by her sudden top marks, she wasn't so out of it that she didn't hear the second pair of footsteps behind her. Although they matched hers, you could tell there were four feet walking.

Quickening up her pace, she power walked. She could see the door to the girl's bathroom. Her fear getting the better of her, she sprinted to the door, pushed it open and dashed inside.

_That was scary…__ could it be a brute?_

_**CHA! I PUMMEL THEM INTO MUSH IF THEY TOUCH ME!**_

She sat on the toilet lid, trying to plan her next few days. She knew if she got through the next week or so, the entire event of the recent exam results would disappear, and she'd be able to get through the rest of the year.

After a while, pondering on the toilet seat, she glanced at her watch. Ten minutes had floated by. Whoever was following her before surely would have left.

But as she opened the door, the someone who had been following her was still there. What happened next was a big flurry. She remembered trying to turn back into the bathroom, but found herself slammed against the wall. She gasped in pain.

_Oh no._

"Caught you." A sly whisper escaped the lips beside her ear. "Haruno Sakura."

He sounded out every single syllable into her ear. It made her shrink and recoil beneath his hands.

If her red glowing face didn't show her embarrassment enough, the amount of heat radiating from her cheeks was a good sign.

All she could see was blue tinted black hair and a well muscled shoulder. His chest was lightly touching hers, making her feel much violated.

_Uchiha__…. Sasuke…_

He leaned back, and she saw The Smirk.

"You're the one who knocked into me the other day. How are you going to make it up?"

"I-what?" She stumbled across her words.

"How.. are… you… going… to… make… it… up…" he said slowly, as if speaking to the slowest person on the planet.

"I'm not stupid!" she said, a little braver than she felt. He frowned, disapproving of the way she almost yelled at him.

_Ding ding ding diiiiiingggg__…. Ding ding ding dinnnnnggg!_

_**RUN! SHANNARO!!**_

* * *

After that incident, Sakura was careful to avoid Uchiha Sasuke. It wasn't hard, seeing as the sight of a large crowd of students meant that he was nearby. She figured if he actually saw her, she couldn't escape. She wasn't as physically fit or athletic as he was, so if he decided to give chase, she would be caught in seconds.

The day before she was due to work, she stopped by a costume shop. The head maid had told her that she would have to 'take care' of her hair colour. She didn't want to dye it black, so she would have to cover it with a wig.

Looking through the rows of wigs on white plastic heads, she tried to find a suitable wig to hide her hair as she worked. Maids were supposed to be wallflowers, with the same apron, shoes, shirt and face. There were so many different styles!

Finally, she pulled a simple straight black haired wig from the shelf. It was long enough to extend to her shoulder blades. She paid 22.65 for the wig, and left the shop.

As soon as Sakura returned home to the dodgy apartment, she looked around for a large cardboard box, which she found in her wardrobe. She didn't know what she would need when she moved into the large compound. She squashed in clothes on the bottom: underwear, socks, extra school shirts, casual wear, then proceeded to try and throw in a few books, a photo of herself and her mother and her precious treasures. She grabbed a thick roll of extra wide tape, and sealed off the large cardboard box, which looked as if it were bursting from its seams.

"It will have to do."

* * *

The next day, she walked (more like swayed around like a drunk) to the compound with her large box. She entered from the back door, or the 'servant entrance'. As soon as she walked in, the old Head Maid was there.

"Follow me." She croaked.

So with her cardboard box, now worn to the point you could see the various patterns of her underpants (in the box), she followed the Old Maid to a small room. It was a little dusty, but a good wipe down would sort it out.

"There's a futon in the cupboard." The Old Maid pointed to a door.

The house was built in a western style. Floorboards and carpets instead of tatami mats, doors in door frames instead of sliding screens, grand staircases instead of just a flat compound. Many wealthy Japanese liked to show off their wealth by building or purchasing these large estates. This family was no different.

What kind of family was this anyway?

_**If it's the Uchiha… I'm quitting right away!**_

* * *

The gods, sitting on their cloud thrones snickered.

_Little Sakura-chan has it in for her now!_

They watched, amused by these little mortals, jealous that their lives are so precious. Because the gods are immortal, they have too much time.

* * *

_Nuuu Kishi-san! Did anyone read Chapter 412? It's meant to be SasuSaku!!_

Sensei: Japanese way of saying teacher. Use: 'teacher surname – sensei'. Also used for doctors.

Futon: Japanese traditional bed. It's essentially a mattress that rolls up to be easily stored. Many older generation Japanese prefer futon rather than the western bed.

_Leave a review!_


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